Warren Astronomical Society

Meeting and Presentation: "The A.A.V.S.O. and Citizen Science"

Jun '09 1 Mon 7:30 PM

Location: Cranbrook Institute of Science

39221 Woodward Ave
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
248.645.3200

How to find us
"In the auditorium. Tell the guard you're with the astronomy club if asked."

Attendance: 38 people attended.
5.004 (4 ratings)
Who organized?
Jonathan Kade, Robert Berta, and suitti

The Warren Astronomical Society meets monthly on the first Monday of every month in the auditorium at Cranbrook Institute of Science. We do a bit of club business early on, then have a major presentation usually put together by one of our members.

"Fast" Mike Simonsen, long-time WAS member and Development Director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, will be presenting on the contributions amateur astronomers have made and continue to make to real cutting-edge science.

The AAVSO was founded in 1911 as an organization of amateur astronomers, to observe from locations throughout North America variable stars to which the professionals could not allocate scarce and expensive resources. It was perhaps the prototype of distributed citizen science such as today's Folding@Home or Galaxy Zoo.

Mike blogs frequently at Simostronomy and contributes to the AAVSO podcast. His presentations are uniformly excellent. Don't miss it!

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Who attended?

38 attendees
- Diane Hall
  
  Outreach Director, 2009-2010
  
  “ Mike Simonsen of the AAVSO presented about a genuine once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for amateur astronomers and astronomy clubs to participate in a major scientific effort-- measuring the upcoming eclipse of Epsilon Aurigae by the mysterious object that orbits it. The presentation included flyers to point interested parties towards the AAVSO and its resources. Amateur astronomers have made and continue to make valuable contributions to the body of scientific knowledge, and this is a great way to get in on the action. ”
- suitti
  
  Publications Director, 2010
  
  “ Mike talked about the upcoming once-in-27 year outburst of the very strange eclipsing binary star Epsilon Aurigae. It's a strange and not very well understood beast with a long and rich history of observation. And with good reason. At 3rd magnitude, it's easy to see naked eye even with fairly severe light pollution (for example from downtown Detroit). http://www.aavso.... This is part of The Citizen Sky Project: http://www.aavso.... He had a printout of the ten start tutorial that was passed around. This can be downloaded here: http://www.aavso.... He talked about a course in Chicago to sign up for training: http://www.aavso.... This one project offers things to do that range from very easy and zero equipment tasks to very sophisticated ideas. It's an exciting time to be in astronomy. ”
- Jonathan Kade
  
  Treasurer, 2010
  
  “ Mike explained the oddness of Epsilon Aurigae and how the AAVSO is seeking amateur involvement in monitoring it. Another eclipse of the star by its weird, presumably donut-shaped companion won't happen for twenty-seven years, so this is a prime opportunity to learn how to observe variable stars and to really contribute to science. The more observations they get, the better their composite data will be. It's a tremendously exciting idea and hopefully a successful one. If you're interested in participating, visit Citizen Sky (http://www.citize...) and register. ”
- John Castiglione (John Cast)
  
  “ Very interesting. I wasn't aware that this Citizen participation existed. I enjoyed it greatly. ”
- Tim
- Stephen Harvath
- Dale Thieme
- Ben Handelsman
- Jerry Kuchera
- Riyad I. Matti
- Robert Berta
  
  Second Vice-President (Observatory Chair), 2010
- Jon Blum
  
  First Vice-President (Program Chair), 2010